The Unknown Occulumens
by J.E. Norcross
Summary: It's the late 70's (Marauders Era), and Rubith Selwyn is a Slytherin student in her seventh year at Hogwarts. With complicated family ties and loyalties, she befriends both future Death Eaters and members of the Order of the Phoenix, including the divided Black brothers. As the reality of a wizarding war draws closer, she is forced to use all her powers to survive both sides...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The library candles had burned low in their wicks and only the most dedicated students remained studying, their quills scratching their parchment every so often. Sirius cast a look around the room, nodding at a few people when they looked up to meet his gaze. Not seeing who he was looking for, he began to pace down through the tall bookshelves, only seeing more seventh and fifth years in their study nooks.

"Typical Slytherin," he muttered darkly to himself. Just as he did so, he heard a low snore coming from the very back of the library. Reaching the end bookcase and looking into the furtherest corner he spotted Rubith Selwyn, drooling over her notes, surrounded by stacks of books.

She was wearing what looked like ear muffs with two tiny black ropes coming out of each of them. Edging closer he saw that the ropes connected the muffs to a small black box with knobs on the sides. Before he even reached her, she gave a large snore and started herself awake.

"Sirius!" she scowled, "Don't creep up on me if you don't want to get hexed, you sneaky dog."

Sirius laughed and a voice behind him hissed, "Quiet during study or leave!"

"Yes, Madam Pince," he said and turned giving the fierce librarian a quick grin, "Rubith and I are just tidying up."

Giving him a beady stare and a disbelieving humpf, Madam Pince stalked away towards a desperate looking Hufflepuff who was running her fingers along the spines of books searching for a particular reference.

"Do you really have to call me Rubith? It's embarrassing," Ruby said to him, clearing away her notes, "And how do you know I'm ready to 'tidy up?' Maybe I need to study a bit more, huh?"

"Yeah sure you do, and I need to get more practise in on sneaking out of class," he said dryly.

"Oh ha ha," she said, waving her wand lazily and causing all her study things to fly neatly into her small backpack.

"How does everything even fit in there?" he asked.

"The great Sirius Black doesn't know an Extension Charm when he sees it? I'm shocked," she chuckled.

"Undetectable?"

"Of course."

"I'm impressed."

She looked at him and smiled, "Thanks. How come you're here anyway?"

"Well," he said, picking up her strange earmuffs and examining them, "As it just so happens, I need a favour. What are these?"

"Headphones," Ruby said, taking them back, "What's the favour?"

"What are headphones?" Sirius asked, picking up the small box connected to the headphones.

Ruby sighed and took the box from him and explained, "Headphones transmit sound so you can listen to things through them when you connect them. See here? This is a cassette player. It's got a cassette tape in it which has music on it. If I rewind it," she pressed a side button on the box and it started whirring softly,"And press play, you can hear the music through the headphones. Put them on, go on."

Sirius took the headphones and lowered them over his ears, his eyes widening with surprise when he heard heavy drums and guitar sounds coming from them.

"That's amazing!" he exclaimed.

"Shh! Pince will come back," Ruby whispered, but grinning at the same time.

"What's this called?" he whispered back.

"A portable music player, now give it back before you get it confiscated," she said.

"Where'd you get it?" Sirius asked, curiously.

"It's a Muggle thing so from Muggles obviously," she shrugged.

"A 'Muggle thing?' he said in surprise, "the great Rubith Selwyn, last of the great Selwyns, using a 'Muggle thing' and actually admitting to it? I'm shocked."

Ruby gave him a hard stare and raised her eyebrow. "I may be pureblood, and my family may have a reputation, but that doesn't mean I can't have an interest in Muggles and their 'things.' Surely, someone who doesn't acknowledge his own blood status and family can understand that."

Sirius frowned at her and a moment passed before he said, "Sorry, I'm just surprised, that's all. I mean, you do hang out with a certain group obsessed with 'purity' and all that..."

Ruby sighed, "The favour, Sirius, what is it?"

"I need you to slip this Dungbomb into Mulciber's bed before he goes to sleep tonight," he grinned and then seeing the look on her face, "No? Okay, well, I need a bit of help with my wandless magic."

"Your wandless magic? Why?"

"Well, I'm not very good, am I? I need help, obviously, or I wouldn't be asking, would I?"

She regarded him suspiciously for a moment before asking, "Remus is good at it, why not ask him?"

"He, er, well, he says I'm unteachable. It didn't end very well when we practised the other day. And James is all cuddly with Lily now and they've got Head duties and everything, and you know how hopeless Wormtail is. You're my last hope or I'm a disgrace to the wizarding world, yeah?"

Ruby chuckled and shook her head, picked up her bag and said, "Your last hope, huh? That's really nice, Sirius, thanks."

"You know what I mean. Nobody else can do it as well as you and I'll pay you back somehow, I promise. Plus," and here Sirius looked slightly nervous, "I'm too embarrassed to ask anyone else. At least you won't ridicule me too much for stuffing up."

"Hmm," she pondered, tapping her chin with the point of her finger, "okay, here's the deal. I'll give you some lessons to help you maintain your reputation as a know-it-all bad boy and you keep my interest in Muggles secret, yes?"

Sirius smiled properly for the first time, "That's a deal."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

As Ruby walked through the empty corridors after parting with Sirius outside the library, she found herself wondering whether he really was that bad at wandless magic. They had only started seriously learning it this year due to their N.E.W.T.s and most people were still struggling, but Sirius Black? And to come to her for help?

Ruby frowned as she walked down the stairs to the Entrance Hall and turned to go down the corridor to the dungeons. Nowadays, there seemed to be a mutual agreement to ignore each other when they were with their separate friend groups. She liked each of the 'Marauders' themselves, and Lily was once one of her closest friends, but she also liked her Slytherin classmates just as much. In some ways, they knew and understood her better than anyone else. Most of them had met each other before coming to Hogwarts because their families were close friends and moved in the same social circles.

Lately though, Ruby pretended to be studying so she wouldn't have to spend much time with anyone. She disliked the growing piety of her fellow peers from the other Houses. She knew they whispered about her and her family just as much as they whispered about the so-called 'Death-Eaters' of her House. Although perhaps not as badly; before talks of a coming war was in the air, she got along well with everyone. She was often asked why she was even in Slytherin because she was so unlike a 'Slytherin.'

Ruby sniggered at this thought, because it not only showed how much that person stereotyped people based on what House they were in, but how little they actually knew about her. She often advised that person to not get on her bad side or perhaps they might find out exactly why she was in Slytherin. This comment would drive away the more fnervous students.

So her time was usually spent alone in the library where she did her own research on magic. Hogwarts had one of the finest libraries in the country and she had more than enough time to spare, so why not?

"Hey Selwyn!"

Ruby turned and said, "Oh hey, Evan."

Evan Rosier grinned at her and said, "I hear there's going to be another Slug Club meeting, huh? You going this time?"

"Maybe, depends on what food he's got in," she replied.

Evan laughed, "Always one to look after the stomach, aren't you? I heard that he might have some special guests coming too."

"You hear a lot, don't you?"

"Yeah well, knowledge is power, I'm not ashamed."

Ruby grinned and together they walked down to the stone wall that concealed the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

"Knotgrass," Ruby said.

"They're getting a bit slack with the passwords now, aren't they?" Rosier commented.

Ruby shrugged as the wall opened to reveal a long, low-ceiling room at the end of which a large fireplace was set. Round glass orbs hung from the ceiling and emitted a strange greenish light onto the rough stone walls and elaborate tapestries. Being deep in the dungeons, the Slytherin common room windows didn't show a regular landscape, but instead revealed the lake as a mysterious water underworld; sonething which inhanced the strong feeling that the room was in fact located in a sunken ship. Tonight, however, the windows showed the lake in an inky blackness. Not even a fish swimming by could be seen.

Evan pointed to the silhouettes sitting in the carved chairs closest to the fireplace and said, "Come on, everyone's sitting over there."

Walking over to the fire, Ruby saw that most students were lazing about talking in the black leather sofas scattered around the common room. One group of second years were huddled around a table, poking their wands into a cauldron that was smoking slightly. "No, no, you've got it wrong, it says stir three times clockwise, you dunderhead," she heard one of them hiss.

Reaching the chairs, Rosier flung himself down beside Mulciber and said, "So, what's this little meeting for, hmm?"

"Where have you two been?" Rodolphus Lestrange asked, raising his eyebrow.

"None of your business, you gangly git," Rosier replied.

"I was in the library, finishing off my Arithmancy essay," Ruby yawned, sitting herself down in a chair and stretching.

"See, now why can't you be nice like Miss Selwyn here and speak nicely to your friends, Mr Rosier?" Lestrange said.

"Because you're a git, Le Strange. Now what's going on?"

"Well," came the voice of Avery from the corner, "Regulus has something to show us, don't you?"

"Ooh, yes, show them Reg!" exclaimed Bellatrix, leaning forward in her chair, her eyes dancing.

Regulus Black, a year younger than the rest of them, smiled and casually swept his hand through his hair, savouring his moment of suspense. "Well, I don't know if I really should. It is meant to be a secret..."

Bellatrix snorted and said excitedly, "Us Blacks have had the special pleasure of having a certain visitor to our dinner table over Christmas. He took a particular fancy to Regulus. So much so, he honoured my little cousin here with a gift."

All eyes widened and Regulus grinned more broadly. He beckoned them all closer and slowly pulled up his left sleeve.

"The Dark Mark," breathed Snape.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Ruby lay awake in her dormitory, listening to the snores of the other girls around her. The image of the black skull with a snake coming from its mouth had burned itself into her eyes and when she closed them, it burned red. Bellatrix suddenly gave a particularly loud snore, startling Ruby out of her reverie. Flinging her covers back from her, she tiptoed out of the room and returned back down to the common room.

It was empty, its fire burning low, so Ruby lowered herself into one of the armchairs closest to it.

"Can't sleep, huh?"

Ruby jumped and a figure rose up out of the shadows, their black eyes glittering from the firelight. "Hard to forget what we saw tonight, isn't it? I myself never thought that Regulus would be the first to get Marked."

"Is he really the first though, Severus? The first of us?"

"To be truthful, I don't know, Rubith," Snape replied, sitting beside her and staring into the fire.

"If the Dark Lord went to the Black's, why not choose Bellatrix? She has more talent than Reg, and she certainly has more...er...excitement for his cause," Rubith said worriedly.

"Maybe he can use Regulus more to his advantage. Look at what Bellatrix did tonight, blabbing about something that was meant to be secret. Imagine if she had one herself; she'd threaten everyone with it and then Dumbledore would find out about it," Snape commented.

"He already knows that she's dedicated, Severus, he's no fool."

Snape said nothing and suddenly turned to look at Rubith, his mouth forming a tiny smile as he whispered excitedly, "Our time is coming, Rube, can you feel it? Soon we'll be free from Dumbledore and we can really join the fight and make a change! No more fear from Muggles, a world ruled by those who were meant to rule! With the Dark Lord leading us to glory... We can't lose. Regulus getting the Dark Mark is proof that what we've been dreaming of is becoming true!"

Ruby looked into Severus's exhilarated face and reached out to touch his hand with the tips of her fingers. "Change is coming, Sev, but be careful. The Muggles have allies, powerful ones at that and this won't be a fight easily won, even with the Dark Lord leading us. Remember Grindelward? My grandparents do. They fought alongside him and know the real truth and sacrifice of a wizarding war. It's like every other war, people die and someone must lose for it to end."

Snape gripped her hand tightly and said, "The Muggles will lose! Grindelward was only defeated because Dumbledore was young like him; he no longer has that advantage. The Dark Lord has more power than any wizard alive or dead, you know that. If Regulus Black is worthy of a Dark Mark, how can we not be? You and I are two of the best in our year, together we will fight alongside our true brothers and sisters and reclaim our place above the creatures and filth."

He smiled at her properly and said even more quietly, "Our families will finally see us for ourselves, Rubith. For our power. Don't you want that?"

Rubith looked down, a crease forming between her eyes. She agreed with him, even though part of her wished she didn't. The Muggles should come second to us, she thought fiercely, trying to convince herself. Wizards deserved better than hiding in the dark, we deserve to live as we want with no fear of showing our magic to the outside. But was that really what the Dark Lord wanted? In his eyes, she knew Muggleborns were considered as low as Muggles. And what of the creatures who weren't classified as beasts? Centaurs and goblins deserved to be free just as much as wizards, didn't they?

Ruby shook her head and said, "Part of the filth you say we're better than are some of our friends, Severus. What about Lily? And what about people like Sirius? Purebloods who don't agree with us? Who would choose to hide from the Muggles and protect them? Do we spare them? Or do we destroy them and what we say we're fighting for?"

Snape stared at her in disbelief and said, "Those 'purebloods' aren't real purebloods, Rubith. If they are with the Muggles, they'll be treated the same as them. I, for one, wouldn't mind giving Black back some of what he's been given, plus a bit more. And as for Lily... Well, she can look after herself well enough. She doesn't need our help anymore."

Silence passed between the two, as the fire died and red hot coals remained. A green glow surrounded them and soon enough the black of the windows began to turn lighter as the rising sun's rays filtered down through the outside lake. Faint outlines of fish swimming by could be seen, and Ruby was pretty sure she spotted a wandering Grindylow bobbing in the distance before it disappeared.

"Sev?"

"Hmm?"

"I do want my family to see me for who I am. I do want them to recognise my power."

Snape looked at her and nodded.

"Me too."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Concentrate, Sirius! Don't let your mind wander off!"

Sirius, his face scrunched up with the effort of wordlessly (and wandlessly) trying to make the quill levitate off the desk, gasped for breath and shook his head in defeat.

His lessons with Ruby had so far been a miserable failure. This was their third meeting and he had yet to move that damned feather even an inch off the desk. They had tried other simple spells too, like Alohomora, the Unlocking spell, on a small lock and Reparo, the Mending Charm, on a broken inkpot, but all had ended the same. Sirius often wondered whether this was how Muggles felt; disappointed and hopeless.

The dingy classroom he and Ruby were practising in looked like more of a storage room for old desks and chairs. They had cleared away the mess and set everything against the walls except for two chairs and a desk in the middle. Both were seated and the desk between them had the stubborn unlevitating quill on it.

"I give up," Sirius said in defeat.

"You'll never get it being so negative. Just because this doesn't come to you as easily as everything else, doesn't mean you just give up."

Sirius sighed, "You're a harder teacher than Remus is."

"You came to me for help. Not a pep-talk."

He looked up at Ruby sitting across from him with her arms crossed. She frowned and gave him a hard stare before standing and saying, "We're done for the day. I have my own work to do. Same time, same place tomorrow?"

"We only just got here like half an hour ago!"

"And still you show no improvement. Both in terms of magic and attitude."

"I'm doing my best, alright!" Sirius said, standing in anger.

"Listen some wizards can do this and others can't, just accept that."

"That's a real poor excuse for your bad teaching, you know."

They both stared at each other with anger in their eyes before Ruby sighed and returned to her seat. "Listen, I'm sorry. Please sit down. I... I just have a lot on my mind, that's all.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at her and said, "What is it then that's got you so head up, huh?"

Ruby looked up at him, frowning, "Well, actually it's none of your business. So do you want to start practising again or not?"

Sirius sat down and twiddled the quill between his fingers, still looking at her. "You know, you can actually talk to people about your problems. It sounds crazy, but it can actually help, funnily enough."

"My problems are my own."

Sirius nodded slowly before saying, "Does this have to do with what happened over Christmas?"

Ruby froze, the events of Christmas pushing all thoughts of Regulus's Dark Mark to the back of her mind.

...

She had slipped out of her grandparents house on Christmas Eve and taken the train to the small village her parents lived in. As she crept through the snow to their cottage and peered in through their front window, she saw both her mother and father watching television and sipping cups of tea, laughing at something she couldn't hear. A half frozen tear had trickled down her face at how happy they were, and at how unhappy they had been with her, in the end.

Her face hardened as she drew her wand. She could show them now what she could really do; that what had made them leave her on a doorstep could wipe the smiles off their stupid Muggle faces...

"Ruby, is that you? Hey yeah, it is! Ruby!"

In horror, Ruby turned to see Sirius Black and James Potter walking towards her, through the falling snow. She almost fell over as she backed away from the window, stammering, "Sorry, you must mean somebody else." She turned and ran, not stopping until she reached the train station and hid in the shadows, waiting for a way home.

...

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ruby answered, still shaken. Surely, he would have forgotten about that, she thought.

Sirius looking at her expression said softly, "Were they your parents? It's ok, you know. Being Muggleborn isn't a thing of shame, even if your friends say it is. They're wrong, they don't-"

"I'm not a Mudblood, Black, and how dare you suggest it, " Ruby hissed, leaning across the table, "Do you even realise what you're saying? Who could have heard you, you fool? In case you haven't noticed, now is not really the time for declaring your blood status, or have people question it, like you just did."

A moment passed and Sirius, stunned, said, "Forgive me, I shouldn't have presumed... Did you just say Mudblood?"

"Oh, don't play innocent, Black. You and I both know the real situation of what's happening beyond these walls and what's coming for us when we leave here. We have to protect ourselves while we still can. The time for political correctness is over."

"You are an absolute prig if you think you can just use that disgusting word and have it not mean anything, " Sirius whispered, leaning even closer over the table to Ruby, "Of course I know what's going on out there. I'm not an idiot like you clearly believe, but I will not stand for you and your little friends' blood supremacy bullshit you're all so fond of. I thought you were different, but I can see now you're as much of a Death Eater as they are, aren't you?"

She stared back at him and raised her hand, concentrating her focus on the quill. It sprang out of his hand high into the air and began doing loop-de-loops before it suddenly burst into flames and its ashes fell back softly down onto Sirius's head.

He stood up and scraped the chair back, slinging his bag across his back before storming out of the room and slamming the door behind him.

Ruby sat alone in the room and closed her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The green grass of the Hogwarts lawn rippled softly in the wind as Rubith made her way over to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She reached a large oak tree within its shadows and nestled herself down in one of its roots, pulling her cloak hood over her head, hiding herself from the other students lazing around the grounds.

She could see Hagrid's hut in the distance with Hagrid himself chatting to some young students while he tended his garden. They seemed to be taking notes of what he was saying and also trying to show him pictures from a textbook. Must be either aspiring herbologists or magizoologists, Rubith thought. She liked Hagrid, even if he seemed a bit thick. She remembered in her first year going with Lily near his hut and being greeted by his enormous boarhound puppy, Fang. He had half slobbered them to death before Hagrid came and rescued them. Ruby knew Lily still visited Hagrid often.

Withdrawing a dense book from her backpack, she turned to the page she had dog-eared and began reading: " _An immensely difficult art to master, yet no doubt one of the most beneficial, it requires complete control of one's thoughts and emotions. Only the most stalwart and disciplined wizards and witches are able to achieve the blankness of mind required to both use and-_ "

"She said Mudblood, Remus! Honestly, I can't believe her. She seemed so normal... And not, you know... Like that."

"She is a Slytherin, Sirius, I'm still surprised you asked her for help. I would have thought your prejudices would have stopped you."

"Don't make fun of me, Remus. Isn't it enough I've proven myself an idiot already?"

Startled to her core and frozen in place, Ruby felt her cheeks begin to burn; either with rage or shame, she didn't know. Withdrawing her wand, she held it above her head and rapped it quickly on her skull, feeling the Disillusion Charm sliding down her body.

"She was different, I know it. She had those Muggle things I told you about, those headphone things, remember?"

Now burning with full on rage, Ruby heard Lupin give a chuckle and say, "Are you sure that you're just mad because she proved herself the same as the rest of her group? Or are you angry that she called you an idiot and burned a quill over your head? Without a wand."

A tense silence passed and Rubith could imagine the look Sirius was giving Lupin. Mainly because she herself had a similiar expression on her face.

"Sirius, listen. I'm sorry, that wasn't fair."

"You're damn right it wasn't."

"But you have to admit it is hard not to be impressed. She's damn good at magic and she knows it, yet she doesn't throw it in everyone's face and make a prat of herself. I personally like her; she's got a bit of humility, something that those in Slytherin don't normally have. But it doesn't surprise me that she thinks the same as her friends. But, I know you. You wouldn't be this angry if there wasn't something else bothering you."

"Remus, she's a Selwyn. I know what it means to be part of a family like that. Where it doesn't matter what you believe, only how good you are at magic and on a scale of one to ten how much you hate anything that isn't pureblood. Oh, and what kind of Muggle torture your ancestors committed that was your favourite. You don't understand, you can't. To be in a family like that..."

Ruby closed her eyes and felt something wet trickle down her cheek. She rubbed furiously at her tears, feeling ashamed of her emotions even though no one could see her cry.

"I just hoped that maybe we were the same. That she was someone who could, you know... Understand what it's like."

A long pause followed his words and Ruby thought that maybe they had moved away until Lupin's voice spoke softly, "I know none of us can really help you when it comes to things like family, but don't think you have to shoulder it all on your own. Now, more than ever, we need to trust our friends and you can always trust us, you know that right? Nobody judges you on who your family are. Nobody holds it against you. Merlin's beard, look at me! Look how you treat me and what I am. If you can't talk to me without fear of judgement, who can you talk to, huh?"

Ruby frowned at Lupin's words, what does he mean what he is? What's wrong with him? But her thoughts were interrupted by Sirius's harsh laugh and she heard him say, "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Thanks Moony."

"Anytime, Padfoot. Always here for when you feel an idiot, yeah?"

"Yeah. Let's go find Prongs, he's probably done something to make Lily jinx him by now."

Lupin laughed and said, "I still can't believe she puts up with him. Although, you have to admit, he's getting better."

"Yeah, but he's still got the fattest head of anyone I know."

"Including yourself?"

There was a loud thump and laughing that grew fainter until Ruby could hear it no more. She rose from her spot behind the trees and saw Sirius and Lupin in the distance, still pushing each other as they made their way back to the castle. A lone tear escaped from one of her dark eyes and fell onto the grass beneath her feet. She put her book back in her bag and made her way back inside alone.


End file.
